INTERVIEW: TREBLE CHARGER Dec 15, 2000
Interviewer: How's the tour going, having fun?
Rosie: Great, honest to god. We're having a blast, great crowds every night, we're selling out every show across the country, except Winnepeg, which was close. That was the only show, which was no-drinking, where some moron had broken into the beer cooler offstage, drank a couple of blues, and threw the empty bottles at the stage. One kid in the front row got cut. I played the last few songs on the wings, it was like sarejavo or something suddenly.
Interviewer: Were you headlining that one?
Rosie: Yes, it's been switching across the country with us and Eve 6.
Interviewer: How's it working out with them?
Rosie: Oh, it's working out great.
Interviewer: How about the guys in Gob?
Rosie: The Gob guys are great, you know we're on the same bus, so we're getting to know them really well. We both have the same management as well.
Interviewer: How's the album breaking in the States?
Rosie: The album is coming out at the end of March in the States. We have a smart manager, he plays stats and watches the charts. If we're doing well in a certain area, we'll go there to play. He builds that way. We don't go places where we're getting no airplay and no one's going to show up, it's almost a waste of time to do that. You need a little bit of help. We're feeling good about it, we're confident, and we've got a good song. I guess the question is whether Americans will appreciate "American Psycho" or if they'll spit it back in the face of the Canadians.
Interviewer: So how many times have you been asked about the parallel between "American Psycho" and "American Woman" [ed: by the Guess Who]?
Rosie: Well, I try to bring that up. Exactly. They liked "American Woman", its kind of a cool, sexy thing, although it was written as a slag. "American Psycho" is more of an explicit slag, but I think they're going to like it.
Interviewer: Where did the idea for "American Psycho" come from, the media?
Rosie: The book "American Psycho" went around the van on tour one time, and we were in L.A., and I think the words were stuck in Greig's head. There's usually a car chase every week, which you don't see here, and then there was the Columbine shootings which happened when we were down there, everything was kind of fitting in. It isn't really written about anyone in particular, just the mentality. It's really about celebrity, or what would you do to achieve celebrity.
Interviewer: In that vein, how does celebrity affect you? What's it like to open a magazine and see your face?
Rosie: It's a necessary evil. You understand it. We were in Canadian Musician magazine in November. I was pumped to see that article, you're growing up and reading it, and then you're in it. But you're more interested in the article and what it says. Doing interviews, you can talk for an hour, and someone can use a 10 word sentence and make you sound like a moron. I'm more interested in seeing how I come across, and if I've gotten my point across, rather than staring at my photo…although I do like the photo in the Canadian Musician article (laughter).
Interviewer: Dealing with being a musician, the focus is the music, and you're out for the show, which is two hours long. All the time surrounding that is basically used to get to those two hours. That must sap your energy.
Rosie: In this business it's all or nothing it seems. I've had two month periods off, sitting at home, trying to figure out what I'm going to do with my time. Conversely, I've been on the road for two months saying "Can I please come home?" So you're right, it's a lot of sitting around waiting, and then it's a real rush and you're really into it. While you're onstage its a blast.
Interviewer: Is it worth it?
Rosie: Ah, hell yeah.
Interviewer: What do you like to do when you're just kicking back at home?
Rosie: Dude, I'm telling you, I'm trying to find things to do half the time (laughs). I like to relax, play some musical instruments, play guitar a bit, or keyboards, pet the kitties, enjoy my friends, take up a project around the house.
Interviewer: Are you still a StarCraft fan?
Rosie: How do you know about that? You're damned right I am. I switched over to Mac, a G3 I-book. I just got the mac version of Starcraft. It's a find of a game, it's awesome.
Interviewer: The image of Jean Cretien in stiletto heels and fishnets. Does that idea frighten or intrigue you?
Rosie: (laughs) I think I've seen it. You know, I think he'd do it for the fun of it. I think he's a pretty decent guy. I like him.
[Greig joins the conversation]
Interviewer: The CD-extras on your EP, "Self=title", were really cutting edge at the time. For an EP to come out from an unestablished band, having all that force behind it, was a pretty major coup for you.
Greig: Yeah, I think it was. We knew it too at the time. I happened to be working for a company who was on the cutting edge that made CD-ROMS. That was a field I was seriously going to go into, and not go into music, but I made this decision.
Interviewer: Are there any technology advances you would like to see developed in the next ten year?
Greig: I'm looking forward to completely wireless communication. E-mail, being able to watch TV on your computer no matter where you are, I think that's going to be interesting.
Rosie: We need to live simpler lives!
Interviewer: What do you think of Napster?
Greig: It's a necessary evil, but it's not the solution. It's a vehicle that's jump-started everyone to make their decision. It's forced the industry to take it to court and come up with a solution. It's not the solution, but it was necessary. Advertising will start paying for music, and music will be given away free, which is what I think will happen. Record stores and retailers will get killed, but record companies will survive as they always have. Instead, you'll just get corporate sponsorships, just as TV stations and radio stations do. Money will still come from corporations, you'll still get signed to labels, you'll still put out albums. That stuff won't disappear.
Interviewer: Do you think the days of great albums like "Are You Experienced" or "Led Zepplin IV" are over, where people were fans of an entire album? Instead of the chopped up, "let's grab the single off of Napster" kind of philosophy?
Greig: Yeah, I think that's a reflection of the shitty time we're in in music right now.
Rosie: If Led Zepplin IV was put out today, they'd just be concentrating on "Stairway to Heaven",
Greig: I don't know about that though, every song on that album is great. There are too many albums now where there are a couple of good songs, and the rest of the songs suck. Too many bands are getting away with that because record companies are concentrating on singles. So bands are getting away with "filler". You had to be a better band to get signed back then anyway.
Rosie: Then, you would get signed with the mindset of being developed as a band. For your first record, they might not expect you to sell that many. On your second or third they expect the sales, but they were helping you out, molding you, letting you experience the road, other bands.
Interviewer: Are there any bands that you guys think are on the cutting edge?
Rosie: I would say Limblifter.
Greig: I'd say GOB. I listen to them just as much as I listen to Green Day, and all the other bands that I like. They're one of the better Canadian bands that we wanted to tour with.
Interviewer: Do you think the guitar solo is an endangered species?
Greig: Yeah, it's been endangered for a while. We've even had comments that we have too many solos. Takes up too much time, too much attention deficit, why spend time on the guitar solo when you can get back to the chorus? I don't know what's going to happen with the evolution of music that way.
Rosie: But the drum solo lives!!! (laughter)
Greig: Yeah, it's coming back (laughs)
Interview by Brian
Benwell for
and
SIN CITY
Interviewer: How's it working out with them?
Rosie: The Gob guys are great, you know we're on the same bus, so we're getting to know them really well. We both have the same management as well.
Rosie: The album is coming out at the end of March in the States. We have a smart manager, he plays stats and watches the charts. If we're doing well in a certain area, we'll go there to play. He builds that way. We don't go places where we're getting no airplay and no one's going to show up, it's almost a waste of time to do that. You need a little bit of help. We're feeling good about it, we're confident, and we've got a good song. I guess the question is whether Americans will appreciate "American Psycho" or if they'll spit it back in the face of the Canadians.
Rosie: The book "American Psycho" went around the van on tour one time, and we were in L.A., and I think the words were stuck in Greig's head. There's usually a car chase every week, which you don't see here, and then there was the Columbine shootings which happened when we were down there, everything was kind of fitting in. It isn't really written about anyone in particular, just the mentality. It's really about celebrity, or what would you do to achieve celebrity.
Interviewer: The CD-extras on your EP, "Self=title", were really cutting edge at the time. For an EP to come out from an unestablished band, having all that force behind it, was a pretty major coup for you.
Greig: It's a necessary evil, but it's not the solution. It's a vehicle that's jump-started everyone to make their decision. It's forced the industry to take it to court and come up with a solution. It's not the solution, but it was necessary. Advertising will start paying for music, and music will be given away free, which is what I think will happen. Record stores and retailers will get killed, but record companies will survive as they always have. Instead, you'll just get corporate sponsorships, just as TV stations and radio stations do. Money will still come from corporations, you'll still get signed to labels, you'll still put out albums. That stuff won't disappear.
Greig: Yeah, it's been endangered for a while. We've even had comments that we have too many solos. Takes up too much time, too much attention deficit, why spend time on the guitar solo when you can get back to the chorus? I don't know what's going to happen with the evolution of music that way.